Clyburn addresses earmark accusations

Media reported that millions benefited causes tied to his family, friends

U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, D-S.C., fired back at the media last week about recent stories that millions of taxpayer dollars in earmarks benefited employers and projects linked to Clyburn’s friends and family members.

“I don’t understand why the media continues to write what is not true,” Clyburn said.

According to published reports, $6.2 million in Clyburn earmarks over a decade went to projects and employers linked to Clyburn friends and family members.

But Clyburn said some of the reports paint an inaccurate picture.

For example, in 2003, Clyburn, the most powerful African-American in Congress, helped secure about $995,000 for Columbia’s Drew Wellness Center, off Harden Street.

Clyburn said his daughter didn’t start working there until three years later, helping to build membership. She since has resigned the post, he said.

In another instance, Clyburn said he got $282,000 appropriated for The South Sumter Resource Center in Sumter, where his sister-in-law is housing coordinator for Sumter Community Development Corp.

“They’re saying the funds are going to benefit her,” Clyburn said. “That’s not true. She works way over in the other end of the building for another (entity).”

Clyburn defends his earmarks as a way to get needed money in the hands of deserving projects that will help South Carolinians.

This year, Clyburn said he’s received about 900 requests from towns, organizations and nonprofits in the 15-county area that he represents. Typically, taxpayers fund 4 percent to 5 percent of those requests via earmarks, he said.

— Gina Smith